Chisel and Drill

 

Tue, 2/7/23

I reached the point where I have a clear separation between the bulb that lies flat along the base, and the mouth of the large irregular cone that will rest atop the bulb. 

 

 

Now to address that big flat oval face.

 

 

 I got out the big drill, put the 5/8" masonry bit in the chuck, and bored down about three and a half inches into the face of the cone. Time to break out the point chisels. My chisel-fu gets stronger with each project. Here's where we are as of Wednesday afternoon.

The next task will be pushing the walls of that cone thinner, and then we'll take the flatness out of the front rim of the cone.   I took another bite with the drill, chiseled out more material, and started shaping in the irregular curves with the cabinet rasp.

 

Thu. 2/9/23

 I'm an early riser, but 2:30 is too damned early for even me. Had an early visit with the doc today, and got Mary's car in for service. Doctor visit was OK. All the numbers are very good, and the echo test on the heart showed nothing amiss. Mary's car is another matter. It's thrashed.

But  a night without much sleep was just what I did not need. I'm draggin' it. I couldn't work up the juice to get the tools out, but I did finish Chronicles of Narnia today.

I'm sad that it's over. I haven't had so much fun with a series of books in a very long time. More on this in a post somewhere down the line...

 

Fri. 2/10/23

 I hadn't been on the Roadster in a while, so I polished it up for Saturday's ride, and put in a about eight miles on the local bike trail. It felt good.

But Saturday was cold, and windy.  

 

Newport Harbor.

We left the fancy dress bikes home.  I am a wimp when it comes to cold. I'm skinny, and I chill easily. I have to prep for a sixty degree day the way most people gear up for the snow. I was ready for the cold, and it paid off. Sometimes fighting a little wind and cold is actually fun. I think it's called "invigorating" or something.

Sunday, 2/12

 

I founded the So Cal RatRod Ride eleven years ago, and a year later three of us founded RatRod Riders B/C. This was when the "Outlaw Bicycle Clubs" were just catching fire. I'm leaving out names, because I am the only one of the three founders remaining in the club. We were there for the first OBC gathering in Las Vegas, and our monthly ride drew dozens of participants. 

 

We used to roll a pretty darn impressive pack through the Huntington and Newport Beach bike paths. We did a few parades, and threw some giant parties. But all things change, do they not? A bunch of clubs came and went. The scene gradually evolved into sort of a custom bike show circuit. The various builders do come up with some gorgeous machines, but most of the customs are show queens: impractical, heavy, tough to ride. 

Most of the club rides became more focused on the bar stops than the bike path. Lots and lots of people ride with bluetooth stereos. Many have "sound bike" trailers with big ass speakers, and they play them loud. As a group, we slowly fell away from the big gatherings. It just wasn't fun to drive an hour or more out to a ride, and then spend most of the day standing around waiting for everyone to get done drinking.

We don't do stereos or bar stops. Last thing any of us wants on a bike ride is being stuck behind someone blasting rap, or heavy metal.  Dave and Russ don't smoke,  but the rest of us enjoy our weed. One life's sweet little pleasures is to catch a buzz, and take in the peace and quiet of a long slow cruise along the coast. Our rides run in the 15-20 mile range, with a couple of 'safety meetings' and a lunch break where we can find cheap food.  So, of course, attendance at our  event fell away. We mostly stopped going to their rides, and they mostly stopped stopped coming to ours. The club has become a small, tight family. We do our own thing, and it is good. Even so, we have our 'fancy-go-to-meetin' bikes as well as our daily riders. We're still in touch with the rest of the scene. 

 

Dave, and Troy went up to Simi Saturday to show off Dave's custom. Check this baby out:

And that's about it for this week. I do want to get around to talking about The Chronicles of Narnia, and also about Life, the Universe, and Everything, in a subsequent post. Oh, and Moby Dick, too. No foolin', I really started it again, and you know what? I'm enjoying the heck out of it.

Really!